Dr. Carla Barnett Endorsed as U.D.P. Freetown Candidate

With much pomp and ceremony, this morning the United Democratic Party announced its new choice for the Freetown constituency, replacing caretaker Lee Mark Chang. Doctor Carla Barnett has worked under both administrations, and is also regionally recognized. And now, she will abandon the boardrooms, for the moment at least, and will take her game to the streets. The U.D.P. is excited to have her on board, and this morning all flags were flying and bugles blowing, but is she cut for politics? Mike Rudon was at U.D.P. Headquarters this morning and has the story.

Mike Rudon, Reporting

It was a packed room this morning, with ministers, area representatives, caretakers, municipal representatives and functionaries from across the country. It isn’t often that we in the media are called out to U.D.P. headquarters. This morning we were, for an announcement which has the Party’s top brass noticeably excited. The Prime Minister set the stage, stating that on the wake of the Party’s victory in Cayo North and involvement in the sugar industry, the U.D.P. is on a roll, in a moment, lifted up by the people and by events in the nation. And then, drumroll dispensed with…the announcement.

Dean Barrow

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“This morning’s announcement, we are confident, places one heck of an exclamation point behind all I have just described, because in fact this morning we formally introduce to the media, to our Party supporters, and to the people of this country Dr. Carla Barnett as the candidate in waiting of the United Democratic Party for the Freetown constituency here in Belize City.”

Barnett has worked in the region, with CARICOM and the Caribbean Development Bank, and has also served in various capacities in Belize. The Prime Minister says her record of integrity speaks for itself, and makes her a welcome addition to the U.D.P.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“She’s been Deputy Governor of the Central Bank; she’s been Permanent Secretary or Chief Executive Officer. She’s been most importantly the Financial Secretary of this country under a People’s United Party administration asked to come in and to save the day when it was clear that that administration was going and taking the country to wrack and ruin. Her integrity, her probity as a professional, as a public officer, was absolutely second to none. Of all her talents…of all the qualities that she brings to the United Democratic Party that one is perhaps the most important.”

Dr. Carla Barnett says what she is embarking on is just a new phase of public service and she is convinced that it is the right time for her. She has no prior ties to the constituency, but says she has hit the ground running and has been welcomed with open arms.

Carla Barnett

Carla Barnett, Endorsed as U.D.P. Freetown Candidate

“I am offering my experience and my knowledge to help the people of the Freetown constituency. I plan to get deep inside the Freetown constituency. I have started to meet people in that constituency already, and the reaction from everybody without exception has been positive. It’s been welcoming. It’s been exciting. This has bolstered my conviction that this is the right time to do this.”

Right time maybe, but can Dr. Carla Barnett handle real politics. She’s certainly no stranger to high office, boardrooms and executive meetings, but that’s a far cry from London Bridges and walking streets where poverty, need and frustration are endemic. She certainly has the academic qualifications, but can she summon the street credibility necessary for a successful campaign in Freetown?

Carla Barnett

“I have had to work in my public life under conditions that have been difficult to say the least, demanding to say the least, but even as I have done that over the years I have always been present working at another level. It’s like I’ve always been doing those things. I am sure that it’s going to be different. I am not naive. Politics is new, but others have done it. There’s nothing special about me that will make me unable to work with people and to help people to solve their problems. That is what we are here to do. And that’s what I am setting out to do. I believe that I come with the range of experience that will allow me to do those things.”

U.D.P. Freetown caretaker, Lee Mark Chang, was at the head table and is on board with Barnett’s ascension. But even with the very evident show of support for her campaign today, her work will definitely be cut out for her.

Even as she prepares to take on P.U.P. Leader Francis Fonseca, Barnett admits that she has never been a part of any street campaign. Mike Rudon for News Five.

Viewers please note: This Internet newscast is a verbatim transcript of our evening television newscast. Where speakers use Kriol, we attempt to faithfully reproduce the quotes using a standard spelling system.

Anytime i read about supremely academically qualified indivduals going for politics a qoute by Einstein, i think, comes to mind; “I would rather be governed by the first 2000 names in the Boston phone book than the 2000 faculty of Harvard.” Academics rarely make good politicians